Classic Gaming Podcasts. [Archive] - Retrogaming Roundtable

fergojisan

10-14-2007, 09:11 AM

I like the Retronauts also, but they haven't updated in awhile.

Twitch Asylum is great. Lots of classic gaming content, and each episode they go in-depth on something, like id Software or the Apple II. Unfortunately, they haven't had a new podcast in over a year I think, but they are threatening to do a new one. I'm still wending my way through them, they're pretty long.

Gamebot Live is pretty much all classic content, but it's hard to listen to, content and quality wise. Everything is "awesome." And I think the main guy is doing the recording, and the other people are on Skype (?), which causes a delay, so it sounds like he's talking over them all the time. I like it for the classic stuff; thankfully it's a lot shorter than the other two podcasts. Their last new podcast was in the beginning of September.

Good luck.

shertz

10-14-2007, 09:32 AM

There's also Retro Gaming Radio

http://www.retrogamingradio.com/

And there's also Coin-Op.TV Live every sunday night at 8pm

http://www.thestream.tv/

10-14-2007, 11:44 AM

I'll have to check out those last 2 links. I found Retronauts awhile back & enjoyed them greatly, but now I'm all caught up. :( It's been nearly 2 months since a new one! let's go guys!!! (& sorry, I dont really care for Jenn Frank.)

I also liked TeamFremont, esp. their "What Are You Playing?" short segment at the end of the p/c- used to be they went back to classics, now they go back to late last-gen or early current-gen games. Pity.

ianoid

10-14-2007, 11:49 AM

I haven't found a single retrogaming podcast worth listening to. I think that finding truly quality podcasts is tough in general. Please post suggestions as they come up.

I spoke to the retrogaming radio guys at CGE and they said they had some philosophical bias against itunes and podcasting. They lost one listener in me because of that. I can't be bothered to listen on my computer or deal with some special circumstance. If it's not on itunes, I don't podcast it. I hope they go itunes/podcast soon! I would love to check them out.

Most podcasts with larger groups are too buddy buddy. I really like the cagcast from www.cheapassgamer.com, which is just two guys, not classic focussed.

I am amazed at how poorly schooled these guys are in retro. Then again, I'm coming from the collector's perspective, where David Crane remains a household name.

10-14-2007, 01:59 PM

OK, call me stupid, but I cant find where to d/l stuff on the retrogamingradio site. All I see are places to order DVD-ROMs, & it seems not many of the archived shows are downloadable.

EDIT: Figgered it out myself.

jwm2

10-14-2007, 02:47 PM

Thanks for the coinop live link. I'll have to check that one out.

Steve W

10-14-2007, 05:04 PM

Retrogaming Radio was better when 'Kidhype' Smith was producing the show. Since he passed away, the shows have started to suffer. This year, they've barely put out any new episodes. And Monroe hated the iPod and Podcasting for no other reason than it's become popular and he's a grouch. He's obviously never used an iPod and iTunes's Podcast function, otherwise he'd realize how nice it is. He'd get a hell of a lot more listeners, for a start.

10-14-2007, 10:32 PM

I agree w/ SteveW above after listening to a couple of the latest RetroRadio episodes. Man they're LONG & Monroe talks on & on, just ranting at times. Blahblahblah...I admit I skipped parts (a pinball segment, & a "must-hear" interview w/ a female rep. for Dragon's Lair seemed to be them just goofing w/ her- I dont know if they even discussed the game!)

One time his toddler son could be heard in the background, & Monroe pretty much says "he's the reason I can record today b/c he's home sick so deal w/ it". Another time you can hear A PLANE FLY OVER (mustve had his window open.)

The worst thing I heard was he had a younger cohort over & they alternated playing/commenting on an emulated NES CastleVania (Monroe sums it up as an average NES platformer, standard for the day.) I'm no big CV fan anyway but the whole thing came off as...meh. I used to do the same type of thing, had a friend over making goofy "radio shows" on tape & games going on in the background- IN MIDDLE SCHOOL. That's what that whole segment reminded me of.

So far, IMO very unprofessional & dull. I'll hear more tonight as something to get me through 3rd shift. Hell, I'll prob. end up listening to all eps since there's not much out there.

gamebotonline

10-15-2007, 01:00 AM

Hello!

This is Blake, one of the guys who makes the Gamebot Live podcast (http://www.gamebotonline.com/podcast.xml). We just posted two new episodes on iTunes including an Atari VCS 30th anniversary podcast (http://gamebot.nfshost.com/pod6.mp3). I was glad to see that our name came up in the Digital Press forums and if you guys have any ideas, suggestions or criticism that can make the show better, please email us at mail@gamebotonline.com. I do this is for fellow classic game fanatics and your feedback is the most important. To fergojisan: I am listening. Future episodes will address the issues you mentioned -with a priority of having less "awesome" (My entire vocabulary comes from reading NES boxes). Thanks for listening.

Blake (http://www.gamebotonline.com)

2Dskillz

10-15-2007, 06:42 AM

Destructoid has a podcast titled Retro Force Go. I have been using it in place of Retronauts, it is quite good but a bit more slapdash (not as well informed). Here is hoping to the return of Jeremy Parish and true Retronaut goodness.

tmc

10-15-2007, 04:05 PM

thanks for the reply's, i'll give some of them a go.

ps. it was a refreshing reply from gamebotonline - someone actually listening to critisism and stating that they'd address those issues is something very rare in webworld these days! retrobot - i'll certainly give you a listen.

NE146

10-15-2007, 04:34 PM

He's obviously never used an iPod and iTunes's Podcast function, otherwise he'd realize how nice it is. He'd get a hell of a lot more listeners, for a start.

I guess I don't understand.. Isn't a "podcast" just a friggin mp3? :p What's the difference?

Last I checked the shows were definitely in mp3 format....

Dreamcast

10-15-2007, 04:38 PM

I guess I don't understand.. Isn't a "podcast" just a friggin mp3? :p What's the difference?

Last I checked the shows were definitely in mp3 format....

No. It's a MP4 Talk Show

NE146

10-15-2007, 05:06 PM

No. It's a MP4 Talk Show

uhhh.. the direct link shows it's an mp3.

http://www.retrogamingradio.com/mp3/rgr2007-09-16.mp3

Or if you're talking about a "podcast" being an mp4.. same smell. Convert an mp3 to mp4 and vice versa. What's the difference? What makes one a "podcast" and the other not?

MP4 is both a video & audio format and if they're using that for a friggin talk show, at the end of the day, it's basically compressed audio.. ala an mp3.

10-15-2007, 07:09 PM

I just d/led 5 Retro Force Go shows to listen to tonight. also d/led gamebotonline's Atari VCS 30th Annv show via Blake's link. Thanks!

Nowhere to go but up, after hearing retrogamingradio. Seems most of their older stuff is only available on their DVD-ROMs they're hawking.

10-16-2007, 08:51 AM

Well, at this point, the best podcasts I've heard so far:

1) Retronauts
2) Retro Force GO! (a close 2nd)
3) older TeamFremont before current systems came along
4) Evil Avatar (they got off to a VERY rough start but got better)

Sorry, cant recommend gamebot, T-O-O S-L-O-W (sounds like they're lecturing a kindergarten class), & personally I cant handle the Southern drawl/dialect (not much you can do about that ;))

& I dont know where to begin describing what's wrong w/ retrogamingradio.com. The guy actually YAWNED TWICE IN MIDSENTENCE & his lip-smacking drives me crazy. I made it through a few shows & deleted the rest. Ugh.

gamebotonline

10-16-2007, 10:00 AM

Hello,

This is Blake from Gamebot Live. Thanks for listening and thanks for the great feedback. To RJ: I am very interested in moving at a faster pace and cramming more info into the show. We have found that the more we cram in the less time there is for relaxed human banter that make podcasts unique. What does everyone else think? As for my accent, I could also try austrian, pirate, transylvanian or I could speak Tonto, but for some reason, the southern drawl is easiest to pull off. To tmc: Thanks! I am always listening. Please send any comments, criticism, what you want to hear, etc. to mail@gamebotonline.com. I encourage everyone reading to let us know any suggestions and ideas you have that will make the show better. Thanks again everyone!

Blake

YoshiM

10-16-2007, 03:22 PM

I spoke to the retrogaming radio guys at CGE and they said they had some philosophical bias against itunes and podcasting. They lost one listener in me because of that. I can't be bothered to listen on my computer or deal with some special circumstance. If it's not on itunes, I don't podcast it. I hope they go itunes/podcast soon! I would love to check them out.
Just curious-three to possibly four clicks is "a special circumstance"? I follow the link I have in my bookmarks, click on the link to the latest show, click to download and if I want to hear it on the go I drag the file over to my Sansa player. But then maybe I'm just old fuddy duddy who does things "the old fashioned way" by downloading a talk show from an HTML link :P .

The whole podcast thing is about maintaining control, if I'm not mistaken. You can read some of the debate here (http://www.monroeworld.com/forum/showthread.php?t=1790&highlight=podcast).

Retrogaming Radio was better when 'Kidhype' Smith was producing the show. Since he passed away, the shows have started to suffer. This year, they've barely put out any new episodes.

It's subjective. There's more hands in it now with more Hardware Flashbacks by a dedicated submitter along with the new Chasing the Chuckwagon bit for those in the collecting scene. Personally I see it more as "different" than under Bryan's producing. I'm liking it but whether you like it or not, that's up to you.

As for lack of shows, well there's Shane's new addition to the family and that takes a lot of time from making shows. Same thing is happening with Chris, Shane's partner in crime at Dual Screen Radio. Plus there was the CGE hiatus so there were no real new interviews to have. Since it's pretty much a hobby thing and the shows are provided FOR FREE (extra emphasis there to remind folks), I think he deserves some slack. Especially since he's been doing providing the gaming community with shows and interviews for what, eight years?

10-16-2007, 05:26 PM

YoshiM wrote: "and the shows are provided FOR FREE (extra emphasis there to remind folks)"

I knew we'd hear something like this before long. Some "free" is better than others. "Free" doesnt matter a bit when quality suffers.

And no, I never said I could do a better job, so please dont start w/ that. ;)

ianoid

10-17-2007, 09:30 AM

Just curious-three to possibly four clicks is "a special circumstance"? I follow the link I have in my bookmarks, click on the link to the latest show, click to download and if I want to hear it on the go I drag the file over to my Sansa player. But then maybe I'm just old fuddy duddy who does things "the old fashioned way" by downloading a talk show from an HTML link :P .

The whole podcast thing is about maintaining control, if I'm not mistaken. You can read some of the debate

Yeah, those 3 or 4 clicks and the time they take is something I simply don't have the time or attention span to deal with. I just want to plug in my ipod and let it sync and go. That's about all I have the energy to deal with. I'm busy, like most people I know. I also don't have time to play more than an hour of games a day if I'm lucky on a good week. And I don't watch TV or waste time otherwise. That's life for me. Consolidating this one little task makes it all feasible. I use itunes and an ipod, end of story. If it weren't for this, I wouldn't even listen to ipods, I'd still be listening to the Sirius Satellite feed. Which would be fine, but it's just not as fun as choosing your poison. You're talking to the guy who just doesn't have time to pirate stuff or set up bittorent. Too much trouble.

GarrettCRW

10-17-2007, 11:56 AM

Yeah, those 3 or 4 clicks and the time they take is something I simply don't have the time or attention span to deal with. I just want to plug in my ipod and let it sync and go. That's about all I have the energy to deal with. I'm busy, like most people I know. I also don't have time to play more than an hour of games a day if I'm lucky on a good week. And I don't watch TV or waste time otherwise. That's life for me. Consolidating this one little task makes it all feasible. I use itunes and an ipod, end of story. If it weren't for this, I wouldn't even listen to ipods, I'd still be listening to the Sirius Satellite feed. Which would be fine, but it's just not as fun as choosing your poison. You're talking to the guy who just doesn't have time to pirate stuff or set up bittorent. Too much trouble.

So, let me get this right.....you don't have time to copy the RSS URL, paste it into the "Subrscribe to Podcast...." option in iTunes, thereby allowing the podcast to update automatically in iTunes?

:beaten:

NE146

10-17-2007, 03:16 PM

thereby allowing the podcast to update automatically in iTunes?

People use iTunes? O_O

Gentlegamer

10-17-2007, 03:23 PM

People use iTunes? O_OI do. I tried several other "podcast receivers," but I found no other was as easy to use as iTunes for updating my favorite podcasts and downloading them automatically.

BydoEmpire

10-17-2007, 06:48 PM

I love RetroGamingRadio. Sometimes certain segments go on a bit, but overall it's an entertaining and interesting show. I don't want to put words in Shane's mouth, but I think the idea is that he'd rather have a community where listeners GO to his site, not just grab the podcast remotely and run, never visiting or contributing. I can see why some people don't want to bother, that's totally understandable. To me it's not a big deal, as I like the RGR forums anyways. I also like checking for new episodes - when they hit it's exciting! ;) Shane is very opinionated, and I don't always agree with him (especially with some of his older episode's rants), but it's a quality show. He does fun interviews, and the flashbacks are fantastic.

Compare RGR's c64 hardware flashback, for example, to Retronaut's SMS flashback. It's not even close. The Retronaut guys didn't even freaking OWN SMS's back in the day, and the show was a complete joke. They know anything about any of the games, and they didn't know anything about the hardware. I stopped listening to them right then and there. With the RGR c64 flashback, I learned a TON of stuff I didn't know, and I've been a c64 fan for over 20 years. My problem with Retronauts is that most of the hosts I've heard didn't know anything about gaming pre-1990, let alone pre-crash gaming. Just my 2c.

This is a great thread, though, I'm always up for finding new classic gaming podcasts.

ianoid

10-18-2007, 08:28 AM

If somone (a website, post, etc) is going to spell it out for me, great. Thanks! But if it's going to take me 10 minutes a day, pass. So I'll see if I can figure that option out in itunes. It's pretty obvious that I'd rather just d/l it thru itunes.

boatofcar

12-20-2007, 04:49 AM

People use iTunes? O_O

One or two. The whole iTunes/iPod thing has been pretty much a flop though. Sell that Apple stock now, folks.

If somone (a website, post, etc) is going to spell it out for me, great. Thanks! But if it's going to take me 10 minutes a day, pass. So I'll see if I can figure that option out in itunes. It's pretty obvious that I'd rather just d/l it thru itunes.

So, let me get this right.....you don't have time to copy the RSS URL, paste it into the "Subrscribe to Podcast...." option in iTunes, thereby allowing the podcast to update automatically in iTunes?

There's your answer. You can subscribe to any RSS-based podcast through iTunes.

Anyway, I bumped this up because I just started checking out Retronauts. Great stuff--to me, a podcast's quality is directly proportional to its production values. So many retro gaming podcasts either have shoddy editing or recording equipment, and with any of the 1Up podcasts you usually get great results on both ends. The guys (and girl) on there are pretty informative too; of course as retro enthusiasts much of the history stuff is old news to people who frequent these forums, but I like hearing the reviews of classic games and VC/XBLA releases.

Lerxstnj

12-20-2007, 07:56 AM

Good Game on ABC in Australia is now podcasting.

http://www.abc.net.au/tv/goodgame/

12-21-2007, 08:19 AM

Where's the retro stuff on goodgame? There's a "guess the retro game"...

Isnt this topic "Classic Gaming podcasts"?

Lerxstnj

12-21-2007, 09:01 AM

That is true, mostly new game reviews on Goodgame, but they do talk about classics a bit too. Both hosts are big classic gamers which you can see by their bios.

12-22-2007, 12:24 AM

So if I wanted to hear classic gaming talk, how much time would I waste listening to their current-gen gaming talk?

I'm d/l their 1st few earliest podcast episodes to check them out. Man their wmv files take a LONG time!

So far I've discovered 3 ingredients of a good podcast:

1) knowledgeable talent/members: know what you're doing & talking about
2) try to be professional (have a flow & dont try to outtalk or overtalk others on the show, Retronauts does it A LOT)
3) a female helps (pref. non-annoying) ;)

12-22-2007, 09:49 AM

So I'm in the middle of the 3rd Goodgame show I d/l'ed (hey! there's video!) VERY little classic content so far. The short segment I did see they seemed to be poking fun at it.

They just had a semi-interesting story on Japanese gamers/gaming. I'll watch a few more here & there but wont spend much more time on it. I wouldnt watch this for classic gaming info- it's very few & far between- almost nonexistent.

gamebotonline

12-25-2007, 11:56 PM

My favorites in order are Retroforce Go!, RetrogamingRadio and unfortunately Retronauts. The truth is there just aren't many out there. Considering there is a bottomless pit of current game podcasts it's a shame there aren't more clasic podcasts out there. We started the Gamebot Live podcast almost as a response to my disappointment in Retronauts (the first classic podcast I listened to). While we're on the subject, does anyone know if Digital Press has considered making a podcast? If it included just a few of the subjects I've seen in the forums, it would rock. Also-are there any mp3s of classic game expo guest speakers available for download anywhere? I downloaded several a few years ago, is there anything newer?

ianoid

12-26-2007, 08:36 AM

I've been thinking about that, but none of the principals has time, I'd bet. I'd like to get Sean Kelly, John Hardie, and Joe Santulli talking about stuff on Skype, which would always be entertaining. But doing that kind of thing regularly would be just about impossible.

For podcasts, production is key, along with not involving too many people. If you have more than 4 it's too hard to keep track of who anyone is. And then if the production isn't good and you don't get good microphones it interferes with the experience. No way I have time to get that going regularly. And everyone has to work hard to keep the 'um uh' factor out.

gamebotonline

01-05-2008, 06:25 PM

Yes, I have had a hard time making timely podcasts with peoples schedules and all. I think, however, digital press fans would take whatever they could get. I personally would love it if you guys put all the audio recorded at Atari programmer panels, Activision panels, other CGE stuff, etc. on iTunes. Thanks for the podcast advice too.

03-16-2008, 09:30 AM

Found one over at www.vgpub.com. They start out very short- under 1 hr but newer eps. go 1 hr+. They got a rough start (& said so), I only heard shows that appealed to me. Despite some awful mispronunciations ("GaLAYga", Atari "Jag-wire") the later eps. are halfway decent. You can almost hear it transform from a Beavis & Butthead thing to the talent becoming comfortable w/ themselves (though one guy's voice has been cracking since ep.#2 :)) In one retro episode, they also said "NESS" & "SNESS" which drives me up the wall.

The ep. where they review Dungeon Siege & King of Kong movies is pretty entertaining.

EDIT: OK, I just read a review of World Series Baseball 96 (Gen) over at gamefaqs, the reviewer is one of the guys over at vgpub. He starts every paragraph w/ a positive remark about the game, calls it amazing, great, pure joy, & ends up giving it 6/10..:? 4 pts off for "no major changes"? IT'S BASEBALL! Remind me not to trust their reviews.

www.gamefaqs.com/console/genesis/review/R19546.html